Hello Stranger...

Well. It does seem that my title is fitting. Blogging seems like a total stranger to me now. I was blogging almost daily, then when we started packing it went to about 1 a week then once every two weeks and well its gotten progressively WORSE! Sorry guys!

So here I am to try and update ya a bit. First let me list out all that has gone on.

1. Found doctors for all the kids
2. Got SEASON passes to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
3. Started getting ready for Rians 2nd birthday
4. Got Rian in PRESCHOOL!
5. Took a vacation
6. Had a week without the girls (they are still on vacation
7. Started back to work

Whew, I think that sums it up. So now for the explanation of everything! Haha.

I finally got to act all grown up and got doctors for the kids. They will all go to the same office but will see diff doctors than us. We are doing the whole "Family Practice" type thing. I wasn't too sure about Rian's doc at first, but she ended up being really great, even told us about a great cardiologist in the area (which reminds me I have to get his records sent down) and although she reminds me of a girl on Greys Anatomy...kinda cold and well...asian...I still really like her. She seems to have the kids best interest in mind. She asked about Carina's asthma, how Neya has been eating (we talked about how she only at veggies for a LONG time) and she asked about Rian. The odd thing, Rian cried the ENTIRE appointment. He has never done that and so it was odd. He also wasn't feeling good that day so perhaps that its, but the girls were great, talked her ear off. LOL. We go back for his 2 year on September 20th and then we will see the cardiologist the same day I think. WOOHOO. Kinda crazy to think its been so long since we have seen a heart doctor.

We also got Season Passes to a theme park thing out here. It's pretty cool but Rian is still pretty small to ride any rides as is Neya. So we got season passes so that we can really take advantage of all the shows and what not. Its kinda like a mini sea world and great america all smooshed together but half the size. LOL. Rian was a bit freaked out on the bigger rides (the ones he needed an adult with) but on the smaller rides he LOVED IT. So did Neya. She liked the rides all together and Carina shocked the heck out of me by getting on ALMOST all the big rides. She wouldn't go on one called Medusa but she was close. Maybe next time, after all, we have all year! Hehe. We dragged my bro Gabe the first time and he got volunteered to go on a lot of rides but I couldn't go on as many because Rian would cry and scream if I wasn't RIGHT next to him. That kid. Talk about attachment issues. He has always loved me but he has never been afraid to leave my side and now he gets attached VERY quick to me and he hates to have me leave or anything, more on that later!

2nd Birthday. Okay okay, I have to admit. I have done more for Rian and his bday than I did with the girls but we also got through so many obstacles and are just in a different point of our lives financially and what not that it just comes easier to do the little things I didn't think about with the girls. We made invitations on Shutterfly. Personal ones with his pics on them. We are having the party at my parents house and doing a BBQ. I am going to attempt to MAKE his cake and I have a great idea in my head so we shall see. I might have to do a trial run so I have a back up plan in case it looks really stupid. LOL. Its a construction theme as he loves cars (we did Disney Cars last year so didn't want a redo) and I have ordered a pinata (we have older kids going) and some cute plates but nothing else really. I gotta clean up the back yard and the play area and I am going to beg my cousin to let me use this little bounce house they have. They used it for their daughters 7th bday and it was awesome! Not really to much prep so it should be easy enough! I am just excited that we got to 2 with no more doctor visits, no more surgeries and so far a "clean bill of health"!

We also got Rian in preschool. They weren't supposed to take him till he was 2 but they did us a HUGE favor and took him now so I could go back to work on time and not have to worry about anything "in limbo". Kinda great as far as I can tell. I was looking at a couple preschools and a friend of mine takes her daughter here and it works out great. WAY cheaper then I remember preschool in AZ which is crazy but hey, can't complain about our AZ preschool, it was awesome! Rian gets to take a lunchbox and it's soo cute. He still cries when dad drops him off but after a few minutes its perfectly fine and his days are getting easier. Hopefully he gets to a point where he doesn't cry at all anymore! LOL. They do a great job with him, they think he is adorable and once I pick him up he talks for a bit (or jumbles noises together) about his "cool" (school) and his "lunchboK" (lunchbox) and his "fends" (friends). We don't take him juice box but we find awesome soy milk silk singles that are CHOCOLATE MILK! Or Chalky Milky as rian would call it.

Now for a fun topic. My parents have a timeshare that they take Carina took every year and this year planned to take Neya with them as she is old enough and not as clingy with me and RC. Just before they left my cousins son ended up in the hospital so this prompted me wanting to go up there and we ended up just making a whole week of it. Sucky part was that RC didn't get to go but hey, he got a break from us, even if he didn't want it! Haha. My cousins son got out of the hospital on Monday and we got there on Tuesday. It was great. He was a sick little boy but you couldn't tell he had gone through anything once we got there as he was soo relaxed. We got to see her sisters as well, they are getting so big! It is crazy to think all our kids are nearly the same age! She has one more kid than we do but they are all still adorable! After that we went to Gardnerville (we were in Fernley first) and saw my sisters and my moms Frances and what not. We had yummy dinners, hung out, went school shopping, the whole nine and even just relaxed. It was great, things are different there since my mom got a divorce but I won't get into that either. Its not bad different necessarily, just different. The last stop was Tahoe and it was great. The first night Carina got a bloody nose so we kinda just chilled and kicked back at the hotel, my dad made ribs that were delicious! The second day we walked around saw some cars, met my step dad (old step dad) up there and we went to lunch and the arcade. He is the only other grandpa on my side that the kids know so keeping that relationship is really important to me! He was great, my sis and her girlfriend came down as well so we all got lunch! Yum.

The last day in Tahoe was great, we went to the beach and hung out. Rian did pretty well, Neya took a while to get in the water past her belly button but she got there and Carina was loving it. The sun felt great and the company was better. My bro, me and Rian ended up leaving around 2 to head to Truckee, meet my sis again and stop at this place I had JUST seen on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri. It's called Burger Me! and to be honest, it was really quite good. The best part is that everything was locally grown or what not. The beef was grass fed not corn and just knowing that the money spent there was supporting locals was great. I even had lemonade that was AWESOME, fresh squeezed! OMG. So good, Rian drank it to but it well..made him explode a bit on the way home, if ya know what I mean. The whole drive was pretty good, memorable to say the least and I am glad we got in that last trip before going back to work....

Which brings me to the last thing. We had a week without the girls they are still in Tahoe but I missed out on seeing Neya's 1st tooth fallout and going through the whole toothfairy thing! My parents are good grandparents though so I am sure she felt special either way. We didn't do much but get Rian some drapes in his room so we could get him to bed at a normal time instead of when it was dark enough in his room. He can nap nearly anywhere but bed time has to be PITCH black or else he toss's turns, and just sleeps like...well...crap! I also went back to work this last Monday. What a ride. I have gotten up early, gotten lost in Sac (I had to commute for 2 days this week) and I have eaten salsa twice from my fave place that is RIGHT down the street. We did get bad news, our office will no longer be downtown but thats probably better because NOT being so close to all these yummy food places is probably better :) Keeps me fitting in my clothes longer. MAYBE! Haha.

So as you can see we have had a heck of a time, good, fun and busy. All of it has gone great, and even the crying fits of stress and frustration have all been worth it. Now with school coming around it may not be as smooth of a transition for the girls. So stay tuned. I will try to upload pics but may be better off just sending to my FaceBook links like my friend Tiff did! Seems so much easier :)